State Of Kerala & Anr vs N. M. Thomas & Ors on 19 September, 1975
In State of Kerala and another vs. N.M.
Thomas and others (1976) 2 SCC 310, a seven Judge Bench of the
Supreme Court considered the impact of principle of seniority-cum-merit
and held that seniority-cum-merit means that given the minimum necessary
merit requisite for efficiency of administration, the senior though less
meritorious shall have priority and this course would not violate Articles 14,
16(1) and 16(2) of the Constitution. We, therefore, find nothing wrong in
the conclusion reached by the learned Single Judge in awarding monetary
benefits to the legal representatives of the deceased writ petitioner.